What if a supermarket checkout person asked to see what was in your bag- SpainRelated

parc

Let's say you go into a supermarket with a plastic bag of another supermarket? How would you react if the attendant asked to see what was in your bag...you know... to make sure you weren't stealing anything?

Or if they said that you have to leave the bag of another supermarket at the till when you come in because they don't know where you bought the goods in said bag? Or as you casually walk out a supermarket drinking a coke you've just bought and the guy calls you back to ask if you've paid for it and at which point you hold up the receipt.

This has never happened to me in Ireland or the UK where I've lived for some time but it sure as hell happens in Spain a lot (where I'm now living for a short time)

Un-f@cking real if you ask me. This would never happen in the UK or Ireland unless it was a group of hooded teenages or a junkie. I am neither. Is this common in Spain?

ei9go

You also don't see bars on the windows of houses here.

There just might be a clue in that.

El Guapo!

If they think you're stealing and you have nothing to hide then waht's the problem?
Just show them what's in the bag and be on your way.

El Guapo!

ei9go wrote: »

You also don't see bars on the windows of houses here.

There just might be a clue in that.

Lolwut??

Colmustard

One thing I have noticed, now this is in no way a racist sentiment, when I hand in the exact money in coins, an Irish teller tends to just put it in the till, a foreign teller counts it out. I suppose the foreign teller is a better employee.

Gee Bag

Damn, I'm going to have to cancel my shop lifting holiday in Madrid.

some random drunk

Seems to be quite a common thing in Spanish supermarkets for some reason. Often there are lockers where you have to leave your bags as they wont let you take them into the shop. One time I was stopped by a security guard on the way in, he took my bag, placed it into a machine, before handing it back to me sealed in plastic.

SEPT 23 1989

I would whip it out

PseudoFamous

Dean09 wrote: »

Lolwut??

Less security or something? Dunno what he's on about

some random drunk

PseudoFamous wrote: »

Less security or something? Dunno what he's on about

A lot of Spanish houses and most ground floor apartments have bars on their windows. I think he's using this to suggest they're a more criminal society.

holystungun9

Op, you clearly must have a look about you.

Just get with the system. Put your stuff in a locker if there is one or else ask the security guy if you can wander in.

In some places I know that I can walk in with my backpack, other I just put my stuff away.

I don't think it's any great infringement on your rights or anything to be bothered about.

¡Viva esSpain!

Gongoozler

Spain?
Eve Dublin to AH, I repeat, Eve Dublin to AH.

Yes it is normal in Spain. Many supermarkets have lockers where you have to leave large bags on your way in. I was also stopped at a supermarket in Luxembourg and told I should have left my plastic bag from another store with customer services. Ridiculous, IMO. Just adds an unnecessary level of stress to grocery shopping and makes me not want to use that store again.

joolsveer

It is common in France to let the supermarket cashier have a look inside your bag. I see no proble with it. In the local Aldi I usually show the cashier the contents of my bags too.

parc

Don't get me wrong. I love Spain and the Spanish, very friendly and good craic all round but in the supermarkets they're c@nts

parc

Dean09 wrote: »

If they think you're stealing and you have nothing to hide then waht's the problem?
Just show them what's in the bag and be on your way.

True but it's just really rude or something. Doesn't feel right

holystungun9

some random drunk wrote: »

A lot of Spanish houses and most ground floor apartments have bars on their windows. I think he's using this to suggest they're a more criminal society.

One house on our street has no bars. After asking some nightbours, turns out he is an 'ex'-crim who spent so many years in jail that the first thing he did was whip the bars when he bought his new holiday home.

Where To

The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain.

parc

holystungun9 wrote: »

Op, you clearly must have a look about you.

Yeah, I guess your right. I must look pretty dodgy in my suit

LOL

holystungun9

Gongoozler wrote: »

Spain?
Eve Dublin to AH, I repeat, Eve Dublin to AH.

Prolly out shoplifting, that wily little minx!

ErnieBert

Dean09 wrote: »

If they think you're stealing and you have nothing to hide then waht's the problem?
Just show them what's in the bag and be on your way.

...unless you bought a bag of pre-lubricated King Kong dildos that were on special offer in the previous shop.

PseudoFamous

ErnieBert wrote: »

...unless you bought a bag of pre-lubricated King Kong dildos that were on special offer in the previous shop.

Spring loaded for quick access!

starbelgrade

Where To wrote: »

The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain.

Whoever wrote that song really didn't know what they were talking about. The rain in Spain falls mainly on the mountains on the North coast.

By comparison, the plains get very little rain.

Quorum

ei9go wrote: »

You also don't see bars on the windows of houses here.

Yes you do.

Quorum

Colmustard wrote: »

One thing I have noticed, now this is in no way a racist sentiment, when I hand in the exact money in coins, an Irish teller tends to just put it in the till, a foreign teller counts it out. I suppose the foreign teller is a better employee.

When I worked in a shop, I could count the small change someone handed me very quickly, as I'd imagine could most. There's no need to make a physical show of counting money, you just tend to tot it up mentally.

Quorum

starbelgrade wrote: »

Whoever wrote that song really didn't know what they were talking about. The rain in Spain falls mainly on the mountains on the North coast.

By comparison, the plains get very little rain.

ZZZZzzzzzzzz



:pac:

Pawwed Rig

Colmustard wrote: »

One thing I have noticed, now this is in no way a racist sentiment, when I hand in the exact money in coins, an Irish teller tends to just put it in the till, a foreign teller counts it out. I suppose the foreign teller is a better employee.

Maybe the managers give the foreign lads more guf when the till is short. Just remember what customer service was like in this country before the foreigners got here.

Dean09 wrote: »

If they think you're stealing and you have nothing to hide then waht's the problem?
Just show them what's in the bag and be on your way.

By that rationale sure why not let the government take everyones dna and tag people. Sure if you aren't doing nything wrong you have nothing to be worried about.

I would tell them to mind their own business. If they have a reasonable suspicion that I stole something call the Gaurds, if not F*** off. We shouldn't encourage a suspicious society. God knows there are enuf cctv cameras everywhere.

Where To

starbelgrade wrote: »

Whoever wrote that song really didn't know what they were talking about. The rain in Spain falls mainly on the mountains on the North coast.

By comparison, the plains get very little rain.

That's my point.

CelticRambler

joolsveer wrote: »

It is common in France to let the supermarket cashier have a look inside your bag. I see no proble with it. In the local Aldi I usually show the cashier the contents of my bags too.

Yep. Bring your own empty bags and almost every cashier will ask you to show that they're empty (and there's usually a sign on the tills telling you to expect to be asked). Bring a back-pack, oversized handbag, baby changing bag or shopping from somewhere else and either they'll seal it with some kind of security tie (sometimes re-bag it completely) or ask/tell you to leave it at the desk/in a locker (no charge).

It's no big deal. In a big supermarket, you can nearly be guaranteed to pass someone feeding their child straight off the shelf, so what else does the customer get up to?

El Guapo!

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

By that rationale sure why not let the government take everyones dna and tag people.

Bit of a leap there.

face1990

Not just Spain. In a supermarket in Paris the security guy put a cable-tie through the zip (the two zip pulley things. What are they called?) of my backpack before he'd let me in.

Plus later that day I was searched coming out of an electronics shop, cos they noticed a camera in my pocket. Luckily it was a really old, bashed up aul camera and obviously not stolen from the shop.


Maybe I just look dodgy. But I don't get hassled in dublin (except in the old Chapters on Abbey Street. The security man there was such a knob)

Larianne

I'm sure I had to show my smelly gym bag contents in a shop before, in Australia I think...

Never bothered me.

wonderfullife

Larianne wrote: »

I'm sure I had to show my smelly gym bag contents in a shop before, in Australia I think...

Never bothered me.

Things may have changed by now but last time i was in south of France a few years back, i was kinda amazed some of the big supermarkets didn't have those Scanners at the entrance (like in Tescos and most Irish stores). If they had them then there is no need to be searching bags the alarm just goes off!!

the groutch

Alot of those things don't happen here because of the "sue everyone" culture that has emmerged.
If you even insinuate that someone has stolen something, or might be about to, and you're wrong you're open to be sued for defamation.

GalwayKiefer

Pretty common here in Oz to be asked to open your bag when leaving a large store like Kmart, I think nothing of it to be honest.

Run_to_da_hills

Its quite common for people of all ages to have their bags searched in Spain and Italy.

In the UK and US It probably won't be too long before you will be getting armed police with dogs checking your bag for bombs at your local shopping mall at the way all this terrorist paranoia is heading.

BOF666

parc wrote: »

True but it's just really rude or something. Doesn't feel right

Just doesn't feel right cos you're not used to it. The Spanish probably love the way our shops are so "relaxed" when they're over here...

Ficheall

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

I would tell them to mind their own business.

Minding their business is precisely what they would be doing.

Xavi6

Happens in most shops here in Australia, they have a specific bag checker at the bigger places.

No big deal if you've nothing to hide.

suicide_circus

Where To wrote: »

The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain.

starbelgrade wrote: »

Whoever wrote that song really didn't know what they were talking about. The rain in Spain falls mainly on the mountains on the North coast.

By comparison, the plains get very little rain.

http://i.imgflip.com/1bhu.jpg

suicide_circus

parc wrote: »

Let's say you go into a supermarket with a plastic bag of another supermarket? How would you react if the attendant asked to see what was in your bag...you know... to make sure you weren't stealing anything?

Or if they said that you have to leave the bag of another supermarket at the till when you come in because they don't know where you bought the goods in said bag? Or as you casually walk out a supermarket drinking a coke you've just bought and the guy calls you back to ask if you've paid for it and at which point you hold up the receipt.

This has never happened to me in Ireland or the UK where I've lived for some time but it sure as hell happens in Spain a lot (where I'm now living for a short time)

Un-f@cking real if you ask me. This would never happen in the UK or Ireland unless it was a group of hooded teenages
or a junkie. I am neither. Is this common in Spain?

OP that has never happened to me, maybe you look like a mad scaldy knack?

Eileen Down

I 've been living in Spain for seven years and I have never had my bag checked although I have been politely asked on a number occasions to put it in a locker and if I could leave my bag in there too :pac:

Pawwed Rig

Ficheall wrote: »

Minding their business is precisely what they would be doing.

By assuming all their customers are criminals? Not very good customer service.

Dean09 wrote: »

Bit of a leap there.

Not really. The comment 'if you haven't done anything wrong you have nothing to fear' is trotted out everytime something is introduced which infringe on or right to go about our business unimpeded. This is why we spend hours queueing in airports and often have to go through X-ray machines, why we need ID for may things, why guards can now stop people and breathalyse without a suspicion and why we are monitored the most part of the day unless we stay in our homes. Now you want to be searched everytime you goto a supermarket? Despite the fact you are on cctv from the moment you enter to the moment you leave?

tagoona

It might be more of a cultural thing. I know in Ecuador and Nicaragua, there are similar checks and lockers in large department stores.

Wibbs

some random drunk wrote: »

A lot of Spanish houses and most ground floor apartments have bars on their windows. I think he's using this to suggest they're a more criminal society.

I've had Spanish mates be very surprised that we don't have such security on our houses. Bars on windows, tall walls that sort of thing. I recall visiting a mate of a mate whose family lived in a house in the burbs of Madrid(the rest were all apartment dwellers) and being surprised by the estate he lived in. The streets were empty of cars, corridors of 12ft/3Mtr walls some with spikes on top, inset with barred doors. When you passed that threshold the house itself had barred lower windows. It had a touch of the "compound" feel to it. I also recall walking around Killiney of a summers eve with a couple of them, again from Madrid and them being flabbergasted that you could look over the walls of some of the big houses.

Your average modern Spanish gaff or ground floor apartment in built up areas is much more secure than the equivalent Irish property. Now they've a bigger(much) population, so the incidence of crime is gonna go up, but I could never find stats on it to compare to the average here, so is it a real issue or are they more paranoid as a culture in that regard?

I also had the thought that maybe it's a cultural thing in another way. In Ireland and the UK we are used to having "outside" gardens on public view. In the Latin countries, especially Spain with it's Moorish influence, the garden was inside, an inner sanctum private from the rest of the world. Think of traditional Arabic streets of blank walls with gates that lead to inner courtyard oasis of calm. That shít goes back to the Romans. Maybe that explains it?

Kintarō Hattori

I think the level of service that we get in shops here in Ireland is generally excellent. Reading over the posts here some of what folk have experienced in other countries I've experienced in Poland where I've been many many times.

In my other halfs city they have a large Hypermarket called Auchan. In my early days of going over there it wasn't uncommon for the security guy to take your backpack and place it into a large see-through plastic bag while you shopped. Thankfully this is a practice they seem to have stopped. You must pay for alcohol at the point where it's stocked and when you get to the till the security guard will come over and check that the bottles in your bag match that of your receipt.

Customer service in Poland and it seems lots of other countries can be quite awful and in respect of that I think we're very lucky here.

YFlyer

Where To wrote: »

The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain.

And me saying for years '...in the plane'

sh1tstirrer

The first time I went into a supermarket in Spain I was carrying a plastic bag, the minute I stepped inside the door this ould wan kept saying lift dee bag. I was thinking wtf does she want me to lift the bag for until I finally discovered what she was on about

El Horseboxo

It's a common enough thing in a lot of the bigger supermarkets in the Spanish speaking world. Some chains will do it while others won't. They'll have lockers or a counter where you take a ticket to leave whatever other bags you have there while you go into their store. Happens a bit in Asia too.

languagenerd

I noticed it a lot more with chain stores rather than small local shops.

A lot of Carrefour stores (supermarkets/hypermarkets) have a thing inside the door where you have to seal any plastic bags that you have with you before going in. Have had to do that in France and Spain (but not in the Carrefour in Belgium, for some reason).

In FNAC (music, film, media etc.) shops, you're supposed to leave ypour bags with a security guard inside the door, but I don't think anyone ever does...